TBILISI - Georgia on Sunday charged that a drunk Russian soldier had killed a young Georgian man in the disputed breakaway Abkhazia region of the south Caucasus republic.
The allegation coincided with the arrival in Moscow of Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili for talks with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov about the withdrawal of Russian troops from her country.
Russian forces are present both in Abkhazia, a small Russian-backed northwest frontier region which won its de facto independence from Georgia shortly after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, and at two bases in Georgia itself.
According to Tbilisi a 21-year-old Georgian man was shot dead by a member of the Russian peacekeeping force present in the breakaway region, where Moscow has a major influence and strong economic interests.
Georgian television said the victim, the son of a local official, was forced out of his home and killed by an officer who was drunk at the time. Local people claimed he was tortured before being killed.
The Russian Interfax news agency said that Russian military police had opened an inquiry into the incident. Russian military sources said the young man had tried to attack one of their soldiers and seize his weapon, it reported.
The issue is to be raised by Zurabishvili in her talks with Lavrov, the Georgian foreign ministry said.
But the main topic is expected to be the departure of the 3,000 Russian troops stationed at two bases in Georgia. Russian wants a minimum three year grace period, and perhaps as much as 10 years, before the bases are vacated while the Georgian parliament recently called for Russian troops to leave by the end of the year.
Zurabishvili has said the outcome of her visit next would decide whether Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili would visit Moscow for May 9 celebrations marking victory in World War II. Other world leaders, including US President George W. Bush, will attend.
Relations between Georgia and Russia have become more strained since Saakashvili's rise to power in the "rose revolution" of 2003, in which crowds peacefully toppled the government led by Eduard Shevardnadze.
04/24/2005 17:02 GMT